Chocolate Cornflake Crisps with Marzipan Eggs – Vegan and Gluten-Free

As Easter is looming, I thought I’d make something with a bit of a festive feel to it. I used to love cornflake crisps when I was in school and it’s been a long time since I’ve had one, so I’ve given some a try for this post. I’ve used gluten-free cornflakes from the free-from section of the supermarket. In fact, all the ingredients for this were bought in one single supermarket trip, so there’s no need to go hunting around for crazy items.

This idea came about because I wanted to find gluten-free and vegan mini eggs. I didn’t find any on my trip out and so decided to make something myself. I’ve done this using shaped marzipan, which I’ve then covered in melted chocolate and left on greaseproof paper to set. There’s a lot of chocolate in this recipe, but that’s because it’s quite a big batch: you’ll get 20 thick squares out of this. Pretty good if you’ve got a load of people over. If you only want a small amount, then half the mixture. The golden syrup in this not only adds sweetness but, perhaps more importantly, helps bind it together. It tends to be a little crumbly without it. The mixture also contains toasted almonds, which I think adds extra crunch.

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Prep time: 30 minutes. Chilling time: about 90 minutes.

Makes 20.

Ingredients:

For the Cornflake Crisps:

350g vegan and gluten-free cornflakes

150g toasted flaked almonds

350g dark, dairy-free chocolate, melted

100g vegan margarine, melted

4 generous tbsp golden syrup

For the Marzipan Eggs:

200g (about ½ block) natural marzipan

200g dark, dairy-free chocolate, melted

For the Pink Icing:

50g icing sugar

2 tbsp water

1 drop pink food colouring (make sure it’s vegan and gluten-free).

Method:

Line a large, deep-rimmed baking tray with greaseproof paper and set aside.

Pour the cornflakes and toasted almonds into a large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix the melted chocolate, margarine and golden syrup until fully combined. Pour this over the cornflakes and mix with a wooden spoon until the cornflakes are fully coated (expect this to take a few minutes). Spoon this mixture into the baking tray and use a large spoon to press it all firmly down and into the corners. You should have a fairly smooth top by the time you’re done. Put the tray into the freezer and chill for an hour.

Now make the mini marzipan eggs. Take off a little piece of marzipan (about ½ teaspoon) and roll it into a ball between your palms. Once you’ve got a ball, then you can reshape it slightly to make an egg shape (see picture). Do this until all the marzipan has gone. You’ll want 20 eggs. Next place another sheet of greaseproof paper onto a large chopping board, or other movable flat surface. Take two cocktail sticks and use them to dip the eggs into the chocolate and then place the coated eggs onto the greaseproof paper. The easiest way to do this is to skewer the egg with one stick, dip in the chocolate and then use the other stick to remove the egg from the first. You will have quite a bit of melted chocolate left over, which you will be using at the end. Once all the eggs are coated, put these in the freezer and chill for 30 minutes.

Make the pink icing by mixing all three icing ingredients together until you have a pink, pourable icing. Set that aside for now.

Remove the cornflake crisp tray and the marzipan eggs from the freezer once they have set. Turn the tray upside down onto a chopping board and remove the paper. It should come off easily. Place the 20 marzipan eggs on top, 4 down and 5 across, evenly-spaced. Now you can use your remaining melted chocolate. Heat the chocolate back up again to get it runny and use a dessert spoon to pour a little bit over each chocolate egg. This will help bind the egg to the cornflake crisp. It will start to solidify straight away because of the cold surface.

Next, take your pink icing and use another dessert spoon to drizzle the icing diagonally over the whole dessert. Leave for 5 minutes for the icing to set and then cut into 20 pieces, using the eggs as a guide.